LRT-1 finishes structural restoration works for passenger safety

The operator of LRT-1 said Tuesday it completed restoration of parapets or walls, river bridges and concrete structures to ensure the safety of passengers of the 35-year-old railway.

The parapets' concrete surfaces were sandblasted and repainted to remove corrosion. Noise barriers were also installed throughout the LRT-1's 20-kilometer stretch, Light Rail Manila said in a statement.

"LRT-1 has been here for 35 years. The project ensures that it will be here for the next 30," said LRMC president and CEO Juan F. Alfonso.

"The project completion strengthens our confidence in ensuring passenger safety," he said.

The restoration began in 2018, according to the LRMC statement. The LRT-1 is the capital's first and oldest elevated railway, stretching from Roosevelt in Quezon City to Baclaran in the southern city of Parañaque.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/04/19/lrt-1-finishes-structural-restoration-works-for-passenger-safety

Arroyo confirms expansion of Iloilo Airport to start soon

By Tara Yap

ILOILO CITY – Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo confirmed that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has been given a green light to proceed with the expansion of the Iloilo Airport.

“It is one step closer to bringing comfort, safety and convenience to one of the country’s busiest airports,” Arroyo said.

While in Iloilo Thursday, Arroyo said the approval of the CAAP Board Resolution will be sent to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) while CAAP can subject the proposal to a Swiss Challenge.

The airport, straddling the towns of Santa Barbara and Cabatuan, was built and opened during Arroyo’s presidency.

Arroyo said the airport’s expansion was much needed because it was originally designed to cater to 1.2 million passengers per year when it opened in 2007. The airport is now serving 2.4 million passengers per year.

Efren Nagrama, manager of Iloilo Airport, earlier explained that the P588-million expansion will cover the arrival, departure and check-in areas.

Arroyo played a pivotal role in facilitating the expansion project by conducting oversight hearings at the Lower House, which fast tracked the signing of CAAP’s Board Resolution.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/05/31/arroyo-confirms-expansion-of-iloilo-airport-to-start-soon/

Clark railway’s right of way acquisition nearly complete

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has secured 90.1 percent of the right of way (ROW) of six train stations scheduled to be built under Package 1 of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) Clark Phase 1.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade last week said the department had already cleared 443,000 square meters of land for the first construction package.

The ROW of PNR Clark Phase 1 is 15 meters wide, or 7.5 meters on each side, according to Transportation Assistant Secretary for Communications Goddes Hope Libiran.

Phase 1 spans 37.6 kilometers from Tutuban in Manila to the City of Malolos in Bulacan province. Phase 2 heads to Clark International Airport at Clark Freeport in Pampanga province.

Matter of time

Tugade said it was only “a matter of time” that the remaining 9.9 percent of Package 1 would be cleared.

The ROW balance consists of 25,491.84 sq m, or 5.2 percent land; 10,743.25 sq m, or 2.2 percent utilities; 8,524.315 sq m, or 1.7 percent of PNR and Northrail piers; and 3,551.351 sq m, or 0.7 percent structures by informal and legal settlers.

These sites are found in various parts of Manila and Bulacan, Libiran said.

Package 1 entails the construction of elevated structures, a depot in Valenzuela City and six train stations in Tondo, Manila; Caloocan and Valenzuela cities; and Meycauayan City, and Marilao and Bocaue towns in Bulacan.

The joint venture of Taisei Corp. and D.M. Consunji won the contract to build Package 1 of Phase 1.

Shorter trip

Sumitomo-Mitsui is the general contractor of Package 2, which began in February. It is constructing three stations in Balagtas and Guiguinto towns, and in Malolos.

The PNR Clark Phase 1 aims to cut travel time to Manila from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes and is expected to be operational before the end of 2021.

Funded by a loan from Japan’s official development assistance, the project is part of the North-South Commuter Railway project that integrates Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions, the DOTr said.

The south line is called PNR Calamba, running from Manila to Laguna.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1124809/clark-railways-right-of-way-acquisition-nearly-complete

Gov’t to award Bicol rail project in 4th quarter

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to award the construction packages for a long-haul railway line that will link Metro Manila to Bicol province south of Luzon by the fourth quarter of this year.

Timothy John Batan, transportation undersecretary for railways, said the 639-kilometer railway line to be funded by the Chinese government was on track for actual procurement in the coming weeks.

Partially operational

The train line, formally known as the Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Long-Haul Project, will cost around P175 billion, making it one of the biggest under the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

Batan said the bidding terms of reference were currently being prepared by China Railway Design Corp., the project management consultant. The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board previously approved the financing of the PNR Bicol Project through official development assistance (ODA) from the government of China.

“The good thing in the commitment of the Chinese government is the eventual contractor will not wait for the loan agreement to be signed before they start working,” Batan said.

The DOTr earlier announced that the PNR to Bicol line would be partially operational before President Duterte steps down in 2022.

Upon completion, the PNR Bicol Project will connect Metro Manila, Region IV-A (Calabarzon) and Region V (Bicol), reducing travel time from Manila to Legazpi City from 13 hours to under 6 hours.

The PNR South Long Haul was previously listed among the Aquino III administration’s pipeline of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. Its funding was then shifted to ODA loans under Mr. Duterte.

Mindanao railway project

The Chinese government is also expected to fund a significant portion of the 1,500-km Mindanao railway project, which will connect Davao, Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and Zamboanga.

The first phase of the Mindanao railway project is a P35-billion section that will run about 100 km through Tagum, Davao and Digos.

https://business.inquirer.net/271516/govt-to-award-bicol-rail-project-in-4th-quarter

Tracking government projects

IN this digital age, information can be transmitted from one person to another in an instant, with a few presses and clicks on the screen of a gadget; that same information can be shared by practically everyone in the planet who has access to the internet.

The government therefore serves the public well by uploading readily accessible information about the so-called “big ticket” projects under its “Build Build Build” (BBB) program by maintaining a website at build.gov.ph. Anyone, especially the Filipino taxpayers, who wishes to track the progress of these projects can do so by simply browsing the pages of that website.

The other day I read that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has just approved a loan for the 53.1-kilometer Malolos-Clark Railway project in the amount of $2.7 billion. This reportedly was the biggest loan package the bank has ever extended for any single project.

Implemented by the Department of Transportation, this project is part of the bigger P149-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project which was started in 2013. The BBB website summarizes its project description as “a 147 km. mass transportation railway system traversing Clark, Pampanga (Region 3), and Calamba, Laguna (Region 4). It has 3 interconnected railway systems: 1) the PNR Clark Phase 1; 2) The PNR Clark Phase 2; and 3) PNR Calamba. The total cost is P777.551 billion. The PNR Clark Phase 1 involves the construction of a 37.6-km rail line that will connect Tutuban, Manila to Malolos, Bulacan. With this line, commuters from Tutuban will reach Malolos in approximately 35 minutes, from over 1 and 30 minutes of travel time. It can accommodate 300,000 passengers daily in its opening year.”

There is a bar graph that shows the progress of project implementation, from project development, to procurement, to project implementation (meaning, construction). Sub bar graphs for each milestone show that project development progress is at zero percent; procurement at zero percent; and project implementation progress is also at zero percent.

Right there one finds that the website is deficient. It needs regular updating. For a project that started six years ago (in the middle of the Aquino administration), zero progress in at least the initial stages of project development and procurement cannot be, in my view, an accurate accounting. Surely a project cannot get ADB approval without sufficient project development documentation.

Project development, includes, at the minimum, pre-feasibility and/or feasibility studies, resettlement plan (for those who will be displaced), environment plan, right-of-way financing, procurement plan, organizational structuring, sustainability and operational and maintenance plan, and financing/loan documentation. All of these studies go through rigorous, sometimes contentious, discussion and analyses, which largely explain why government projects take time to get done.

Adequate documentation of consultative processes involving stakeholders is vital during the early stages of project development, especially with the size and scope of BBB projects. How are the population being displaced by these projects going to cope with livelihood? What will mitigate the destruction of the ecosystem if project sites are within mangrove areas, for example? Answers to these questions are some of the basic information, among many others, that the BBB website should make readily available for the public to access.

On procurement, citizens would appreciate being given the ability to browse or download documentation of each step being undertaken within the entire bidding process. Procurement consists of mandatory steps, such as planning, pre-procurement conference; issuance of procurement notices; pre-bid conference; submission, examination and evaluation of bids; post-evaluation qualification; then finally notice of award and notice to proceed.

Procurement planning, at which stage project cost is determined, is crucial for establishing the conditions that will either enable or disable irregularities to happen during the course of project implementation. Here project proponents determine unit costs for each project component. Overpricing by a few centavos for each unit of material, for example, means millions of pesos can be lost to corruption if the total cost runs into billions of pesos. At some point after the evaluation of bids, observers can also tell if collusion among bidders took place, indicating that the purpose of getting the best value for money through competition has been compromised.

Many studies have shown that up to 40 percent of public funds are lost due to corruption. Most of these leaks happen during procurement and contract execution.

And yet, if done properly, government procurement can provide the most efficient process by which public funds are converted into goods and services that can eventually benefit the people. Some experts even argue that government projects that go through procurement are in the long run less costly, from the viewpoint of the taxpaying public, than those that apply private-public partnership (PPP)methods of financing. That’s because while PPPs can mobilize private funds for public goods, they also promote private gain more than they ease public pain.

https://www.manilatimes.net/tracking-government-projects/561321/

DMCI sets P2-billion capex for rail project

By James A. Loyola

Infrastructure developer D.M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) is earmarking P2 billion in capital expenditures (capex)for the next two years to support its railway construction activities under Phase 1 of the North South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.

In a press briefing, DMCI President Jorge Consunji said the bulk of the P2- billion capex will be used to acquire construction equipment.

DMCI will also employ up to 5,000 direct and indirect workers within the next 30 months to meet the manpower requirements of the project.

“Building mass transport systems and high-impact infrastructure is part of our DNA. We are very excited and grateful to be part of this game-changing project for our country,” said Consunji.

The Department of Transportation recently awarded the NSCR Phase 1 contract to the joint venture of DMCI and Taisei Corporation of Japan.

The project has a total contract value of 114 billion yen or approximately P54 billion based on prevailing exchange rates.

It involves the construction of around 22 kilometers of elevated viaduct structures, six stations and a depot, which will be located in Valenzuela.

Designed to be completed in 42 months, NSCR Phase 1 will use the existing alignment of the Philippine National Railway (PNR), which runs from Malolos, Bulacan to Tutuban in Manila. The trains will have the maximum operating speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Once completed, the railway will shorten travel time between Malolos and Tutuban from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes. This rail line is expected to serve 300,000 passengers daily.

NSCR Phase 1 is the 5th railway project of DMCI. The company was also involved in the construction of LRT Line 1 North Extension, LRT Line 2 East Extension, two PNR projects and the Dubai Monorail in the United Arab Emirates.

Taisei Corporation is the contractor behind the Iloilo International Airport, which was named the 12thbest airport in Asia in 2017 by travel website “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.”

https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/05/25/dmci-sets-p2-billion-capex-for-rail-project/

ADB okays $2.75-B financing for PNR Clark railway

By Chino S. Leyco

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced yesterday the approval of its largest infrastructure financing project in history that will fund the construction of a passenger railway system connecting Malolos, Bulacan and Clark, Pampanga.

In a statement, the multi-lateral institution said that it will provide a financing of up to $2.75 billion for the development of a 53.1 kilometer railway in the suburb north of Manila, which would connect the area to Clark economic zone and Clark International Airport.

The Malolos-Clark railway is part of the Philippine government’s North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project, a 163-km suburban railway network stretching from New Clark City, Tarlac to Calamba, Laguna and is expected to be completed by 2025.

“The Malolos-Clark Railway Project will provide safe, reliable, and affordable public transport for a total of about 342,000 passengers expected to travel daily along the Manila-Clark corridor and up to 696,000 passengers per day to Calamba by 2025,” ADB said.

Once completed, the railway is estimated to cut the travel time from Metro Manila to Clark International Airport to less than one hour by rail, compared with the current two to three hours by car or bus. The project is expected to be partially operational from 2022.

The Malolos-Clark Railway Project also aims to ease today’s chronic road congestion in Metro Manila, reduce air pollution, cut the costs of transport and logistics, spur economic growth in central Luzon, and encourage a population shift from the capital to growth centers in the north, such as Clark in Pampanga.

“ADB’s partnership with the Philippines has always been strong, and it has become stronger in the last three years,” Takehiko Nakao, ADB president said.

“The government’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) program is clearly steering the much-needed acceleration in infrastructure spending, from less than 2 percent of gross domestic product a decade ago to 6.3 percent now, well on track to achieve the 7 percent target by 2022. One of the key flagship projects of the BBB program is the Malolos-Clark railway,” Nakao said.

The Malolos-Clark railway will be ADB’s single largest infrastructure project financing ever from a development perspective.

Nakao said they are pleased that the bank’s biggest investment is taking place in ADB’s host country.

“The project, combined with other investments in light rail transit, metro rail transit, and subway systems, will bring back the culture of rail transport in Metro Manila,” Nakao said.

ADB’s 2018-2023 Country Partnership Strategy for the Philippines envisages significant and wide-ranging support for the BBB program, among other critical investments in education, financial inclusion, and economic policy reforms.

ADB will be financing civil works of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, including the stations, bridges, and viaducts for the elevated railway alignment, and a tunnel leading to the underground station at Clark International Airport.

It will also assist the government in using global standards for procurement and environmental and resettlement safeguards.

The project is co-financed with up to $2 billion by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which will finance the rolling stock and the railway systems.

“Our co-financing partnership with JICA allows both our institutions to combine our expertise and knowledge in building a world-class railway in the Philippines,” Markus Roesner, ADB principal transport specialist for Southeast Asia said.

The project includes the construction of two rail segments — a 51.2-km section connecting Malolos City in Bulacan province to the thriving Clark regional growth center and a 1.9-km extension connecting the NSCR to the Blumentritt Station in Manila, where an elevated interchange station for Light Rail Transit Line 1 will be built.

The rail stations will include multimodal facilities, allowing commuters to easily transfer from public buses and jeepneys to the trains. The underground station at the Clark International Airport will provide a short connection to upcoming and future airport terminals.

The project will be built on an elevated alignment, helping reduce the impact on communities, avoid disruption of activities, and mitigate flood risks along the route.

It will use innovative construction methods such as pre-fabricated viaduct segments, which limits the need for land acquisition and accelerates construction. High-quality construction methods will be used to achieve the maximum rail speed of up to 160 km per hour.

https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/05/23/adb-okays-2-75-b-financing-for-pnr-clark-railway/

ADB: Malolos-Clark Railway plan to cut Manila-Clark travel time to 1 hour

Travel time between Blumentritt in Manila and Clark International Airport in Pampanga would be slashed to less than one hour when the 53.1-kilometer Malolos-Clark Railway Project starts operation in 2022, thanks in part to a $2.75-billion loan to be extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The board of the Manila-based multilateral lender on Thursday approved its biggest loan for the Philippines to date to construct the Malolos-Clark Railway, which will be co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

The ADB loan will cover civil works such as bridges, stations and viaducts for the elevated railway alignment as well as the tunnel going to the underground station for Clark International Airport, ADB principal transport specialist for Southeast Asia Markus C. Roesner told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Jica’s counterpart financing worth $2 billion will be used to buy trains as well as put up electrical and mechanical systems, he added.

Roesner said bidding was already ongoing for six contracts covering elevated alignment, depot, and stations.

The Malolos-Clark Railway will have seven stations: Blumentritt, Calumpit, Apalit, San Fernando, Angeles, Clark, and Clark International Airport – all of which will be partially operational starting 2022 using a limited number of trains in order to cater to 350,000 commuters per day, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope O. Libiran said.

By the time it is ready for full operations, the rail system will serve one million passengers a day, Libiran added.

This railway project has two components, the main of which was the 51.2-kilometer section connecting Malolos City to Clark across six stations.

Malolos, in turn, will be connected to Tutuban in Manila by the ongoing Jica-financed rail system, which will also be connected to the Blumentritt Station of the Light Rail Transit-1 (LRT-1) by the second section of the Malolos-Clark Railway project.

Under the second phase will be the construction of 1.9-kilometer Solis-Blumentritt extension, where the elevated interchange station for LRT-1 will also be built.

“The rail stations will include multimodal facilities, allowing commuters to easily transfer from public buses and jeepneys to the trains. The underground station at the Clark International Airport will provide a short connection to upcoming and future airport terminals,” ADB said in a statement.

“The project will be built on an elevated alignment, helping reduce the impact on communities, avoid disruption of activities, and mitigate flood risks along the route. It will use innovative construction methods such as pre-fabricated viaduct segments, which limits the need for land acquisition and accelerates construction. High-quality construction methods will be used to achieve the maximum rail speed of up to 160 kilometer per hour,” it added.

According to Roesner, the train will cut travel time between Manila and Clark to just less than one hour from two to three hours by car or bus at present.

“Our co-financing partnership with Jica allows both our institutions to combine our expertise and knowledge in building a world-class railway in the Philippines,” Roesner said.

As a whole, ADB said this project “will help ease the current chronic road congestion in Metro Manila, reduce air pollution, cut the costs of transport and logistics, spur economic growth in central Luzon, and encourage a population shift from the capital to growth centers in the north, such as Clark in Pampanga.”

“The ADB’s partnership with the Philippines has always been strong, and it has become stronger in the last three years. The government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program is clearly steering the much-needed acceleration in infrastructure spending, from less than 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) a decade ago to 6.3 percent now, well on track to achieve the 7 percent target by 2022,” ADB president Takehiko Nakao said.

“One of the key flagship projects of the ‘Build, Build, Build” program is the Malolos-Clark railway. It will be the ADB’s single largest infrastructure project financing ever, and from a development perspective, we are pleased this investment is taking place in the ADB’s host country. The project, combined with other investments in light rail transit, metro rail transit, and subway systems, will bring back the culture of rail transport in Metro Manila,” Nakao added.

The “Build, Build, Build” pipeline included a total of 75 projects aimed at ushering in “the golden age of infrastructure.”

https://business.inquirer.net/271127/adb-malolos-clark-railway-plan-to-cut-manila-clark-travel-time-to-1-hour

ADB approves $2.75-B financing for Malolos-Clark railway

The Asian Development Bank on Thursday said it approved financing of up to $2.75 billion for the construction of the Malolos-Clark railway.

The 53.1 kilometer train line will connect Malolos in Bulacan to the Clark International Airport, the Manila-based lender said in a statement.

Once completed, the project is expected to cut travel time from Manila to Clark to less than an hour and to serve 342,000 passengers daily, it said.

The railway project can help ease road congestion in Manila, reduce air pollution and cut transport cost while spurring economic growth in Central Luzon, the ADB said.

“ADB’s partnership with the Philippines has always been strong, and it has become stronger in the last three years,” said ADB President Takehiko Nakao.

The Malolos-Clark line is part of the 163-km North-South Commuter Railway Project, which aims to connect New Clark City to Calamba in Laguna. It is expected to be completed by 2025.

NOW: Officials from Asian Development Bank, PH gov't hold press briefing on approval of loan for Malolos-Clark Railway project which is part of the North-South Commuter Railway project pic.twitter.com/fI1CUNhZ1M

— Bruce T. Rodriguez (@BruceTRodriguez) May 23, 2019

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/23/19/adb-approves-275-b-financing-for-malolos-clark-railway

ADB approves $2.75-B loan for Malolos-Clark train line

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $2.75-billion loan to fund the construction of a railway that will link Malolos, Bulacan to the Clark airport in Pampanga.

The Japan-led lender announced the approval on Thursday, saying it was the "single largest infrastructure project financing" ever granted by the ADB.

The amount will finance the construction of a 53.1-kilometer train line connecting Malolos to the Clark International Airport, which will also pass through the Clark economic zone in Pampanga.

This Malolos-Clark stretch is part of the 163-km North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project that will connect New Clark City to Manila, and will stretch to Calamba, Laguna south of the capital.

The project is split into two segments: a 51.2-km section from Malolos to Clark, and a 1.9-km extension line that will connect the NSCR to the Blumentritt station of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 in Manila.

The entire stretch of the North-South railway is set to be completed by 2025, but partial operations are targeted by 2022. Construction of the NSCR is co-financed by the ADB and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, with the latter committing a $2-billion loan line.

"The project, combined with other investments in light rail transit, mass rapid transit and subway systems, will bring back the culture of rail transport in Metro Manila," ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in a statement.

ADB will finance the construction of stations, bridges and viaducts for the elevated train tracks, as well as the tunnel that will connect to an underground station by the Clark airport.

Trains will run at a maximum of 160 km per hour, which will allow the railway to serve over 300,000 passengers daily and will cut travel time to less than an hour from end to end.

http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2019/5/23/ADB-loan-Malolos-Clark-railway.html